3/30/2018 Critical success factors across the project life cycle https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/critical-success-factors-project-life-cycle-2131 1/11 Critical success factors across the project life cycle definitions and measurement techniques ARTICLE ǀ Skill Development ǀ June 1988 Project Management Journal Pinto, Jeffrey K. | Slevin, Dennis P. How to cite this article: Pinto, J. K. & Slevin, D. P. (1988). Critical success factors across the project life cycle: deƯnitions and measurement techniques. Project Management Journal, 19(3), 67ũ75. Reprints and Permissions Dennis P. Slevin, Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh Introduction Attempts to understand the process of project management, involving the successful implementation of projects in organizations, represent a problem of continual concern and interest to both researchers and project managers. Much has been written to assist project managers in their efforts to more effectively manage and guide a variety of organizational projects. Both empirical and conceptual approaches have been applied to the study of the project implementation process. As a result, a wide range of critical factors or project dynamics have been uncovered which have been found to signiƯcantly contribute to project success (e.g., sufƯcient available resources or top management support). While these Ưndings have had an important impact on project managers, helping them to better manage their projects to completion, few researchers have attempted to determine how the Ůimportanceů of these critical factors may ưuctuate as a result of changes in the life cycle of the project. In other words, it may be likely that some Ůcriticalů factors become more or less critical to project success depending upon the phase in its life cycle the project currently occupies. The purpose of this article is to report on the results of a recent study that was conducted in an effort to test the importance of those factors that have long been believed to be critical to project success. Over 600 questionnaires were mailed to project managers and members of the Project Management Institute (PMI). The response rate and interest level generated from this study have been quite strong; over 400 questionnaires were returned, indicating a response rate in excess of 71%. SpeciƯcally, this study resulted in two important Ưndings: 1) The validation of a set of factors previously discovered as critical to project implementation success [1]. 2) The determination that these factors are not of equal and stable importance over the life of the project. Rather, different sets of these factors become more critical to project success at different phases in the project life cycle. The results of this study have important implications for project managers and researchers in the project management Ưeld. First, a set of ten critical success factors were determined that improve the prediction of project implementation success. Second, this study demonstrates that it is insufƯcient to simply ask the question, ŮWhich factors are most important to project success?ů It will be shown, using project life cycles, that the relative importance of various critical factors are subject to dramatic changes at different phases in the project implementation process. Finally, this research offers support for use of the Project Implementation ProƯle (PIP) [1] as an instrument to assess project performance and predict project success based on responses across the ten critical factors. Project Critical Success Factors Research in the area of critical success factors in project management and implementation has been conducted for several years. Many examples exist of both empirical studies aimed at determining critical success factors [2] [3] as well as conceptual research approaches [4] [5] [6] which have developed theoretical frameworks or models listing several of those factors seen as critical to project success. As a result of the wide range of work on project critical success factors, it appears that consensus is beginning to develop on identifying those areas or dynamics critical for project implementation success.